Kris Srikkanth Reveals the BIG REASON why Virat Kohli rejected the captaincy offer from Royal Challengers Bangalore

Rajat Patidar has been appointed as the new captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Virat Kohli has fully backed him.

Kris Srikkanth Reveals the BIG REASON why Virat Kohli rejected the captaincy offer from Royal Challengers Bangalore

Virat Kohli (Via X)

After the end of the IPL 2025 mega auction, there was a strong feeling, and reports were going around that Virat Kohli would be back as the captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) franchise for the upcoming season. The way the auction went for the team further strengthened the rumors. However, RCB has now announced that Rajat Patidar will be the new captain of the franchise for the upcoming season.

Patidar was one of the players to be retained by the franchise ahead of the auction, along with Kohli. He has been in sensational form in domestic cricket. Patidar will succeed Faf du Plessis as the skipper of RCB. Fans were definitely happy with the appointment, but a majority of Kohli fans were disappointed as they wanted to see the star batter back in the role as skipper given that he has retired from T20Is. However, Kohli is set to play as a specialist batter in the tournament.

YouTube video

Former India cricketer and part of the 1983 ODI World Cup winning team, Kris Srikkanth, has revealed that he feels that Kohli might have turned down the request to captain RCB given that he wants to focus on his batting at this stage of his career. More importantly, the appointment of Patidar has been done after discussions with the former RCB captain.

I think Virat would have said no to the captaincy. He would have said ‘I want to focus on batting’. I think all this must have happened in consultation with Virat Kohli.

Kris Srikkanth said while speaking on his YouTube channel Cheeky Cheeka.
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Virat Kohli has backed Rajat Patidar as the captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore

The former RCB captain has wished Patidar the best as the captain of the RCB and has revealed that he would be giving all his support and guidance to the new captain on the field. Kohli has also stated that Patidar has won over the support of the fans with his exceptional performances in the RCB jersey.

Virat Kohli Rajat Patidar
Virat Kohli Rajat Patidar (Via X)

Rajat, firstly, I want to congratulate you. Wish you all the very best. Thank you for the way you have grown in this franchise and the way you have performed. You have really made a place in the hearts of all the fans of RCB all over India. And they get really excited to watch you play. So, this is very well deserved. And to tell you that myself and the other team members will be right behind you. And you will have all our support to grow into this role.

Virat Kohli said in a video message at the press conference.

Kohli had remained the captain of the team for nine years and decided to step down from captaincy ahead of the IPL 2022, citing workload reasons. Under him, the team’s best campaign was in IPL 2016, where the team qualified for the final but suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the final against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, Patidar has captained Madhya Pradesh in domestic cricket. He will have big responsibilities on his shoulders as a batter and also as the skipper to lead RCB to their first coveted IPL trophy. Only time will tell how he steps up to his new role.